The Team: On and Off the Set
The Team: On and Off the Set is a title in the Ghostwriter book series. It has conversations with Ghostwriter and each of six members of the Ghostwriter team- Jamal, Lenni, Alex, Gaby, Tina and Rob. Also included are sections about the actors who portrayed them. Summary Jamal Jamal tells Ghostwriter that he hopes that he can become better in karate. His mother is attending college again so that she can obtain a master's degree. He admits that he misses his older sister Danitra, who is currently attending college in Pennsylvania. He relays an misunderstanding that included him, Rob and Momo. While he was going to a hardware store for his father, Rob had collided with him while on his skateboard, ending up with Momo's Walkman, which Jamal had been borrowing, being destroyed. Jamal eventually convinced Momo that Rob had meant no harm, and that he and Rob would each pay Momo half of the price for the Walkman. Jamal tells of his father's job, including that he used to be a railroad conductor, like Jamal's great-grandfather, Ezra. He also tells of Ezra's bravery. Lenni Lenni is having trouble writing a paper for an Social Studies assignment, which is to write about a significant event in the 1960s, even though she knows plenty that had gone on during that time period. She relays that her father had once done a show that would benefit the homeless, and wishes that her paper would be as good. She once had a temporary English teacher that had created a grammar test that would be a large part of their grade. Although Lenni had studied hard for the test, she still received a poor grade on the exam. Lenni tells of her mother, including that she had liked to tell her daughter knock-knock jokes and make macaroni and cheese. Alex Alex tells Ghostwriter that he does not think about knowing Spanish; he had just grown up with it since his parents, who are from El Salvador, had spoken it. He relays that his father and mother had left their country since his father was in trouble with the government. Through many hardships, they had come across the American border to Texas illegally, but had later received permission from the American government to stay. Alex's mother had been pregnant with Alex during the journey, and he was born in Texas. He wants to become president of the United States. He also tells of his pen pals, and that he wants to visit all of them. Ghostwriter worries that he cannot do all that he wants to do when he is older, including opening a detective agency with a pen pal named Gigi. Alex assures that he can, using an example of the New York Mets rising from being a baseball team that did poorly to being in the World Series. Gaby Gaby had discovered that her father had named her after a Chilean poet. She tells of an incident about a teacher where she had made a comment that the teacher did not appreciate. She and Tina plan on creating a documentary about their teachers. Gaby relays that one time, she had secretly videotaped Alex doing something that he would be embarrassed about. She also tells that Alex had helped her with a bully that had once stolen her bike and refused to give it back, and that Alex had stated that he would help her if someone bothered like that again. Tina Tina tells that she helps in the tailor's shop with her mother and father. Her father is very skilled in sewing, and had been a tailor in Vietnam. Tina had taken courses on Vietnamese history at the community center, and also learned how to read and write in Vietnamese there. Tina's parents had left Vietnam illegally with her older brother Tuan after the war. Their Uncle Liam had aided them in coming to America, where Tina and her younger sister Linda were born. Tina admits her worries about Tuan disagreeing with their father's standards and wanting to be American. She does state that perhaps years later, Tuan and her father will laugh at it, and that she could even create a movie based from it. Rob Rob tells that he is still insecure about being a part of the team. He tells of his older brother Jason, who is deaf. Jason had written to Rob about wanting to become a vegetarian, and had recently received his driver's license, even though the driving instructor had been biased due to Jason being deaf. He remembers that while living in Hawaii, he had Jason used to sneak through a tunnel that Jason had created that had been part of a lava tunnel to go to Waikiki Beach without their parents knowing. His family had lived on different military bases in the country due to his father being in the air force. Rob had been born in Texas. He does not get along with his father very well due to them thinking differently, including his father thinking that Rob should play sports. Ghostwriter uses an example of the author Mark Twain and his father to show Rob that perhaps there is hope that he and his own father will eventually get along. Category:Books